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Prenatal Assessment of the Position of Fetal Conus Medullaris as a Predictor of Fetal Spinal Lesions
Author(s) -
Zhao Dan,
Wei Qiuju,
Cai Ailu,
Xie Limei,
Wang Bing,
Wang Xiaoguang
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of ultrasound in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.574
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1550-9613
pISSN - 0278-4297
DOI - 10.1002/jum.14326
Subject(s) - conus medullaris , medicine , fetus , concordance , sacrum , anatomy , spinal cord , fetal position , gestational age , obstetrics , radiology , pregnancy , psychiatry , biology , genetics
Objectives The aim of this study is to compare two different methods in assessment of the position of fetal conus medullaris (CM) and to explore the significance for assessment of CM. Methods This study included both normal fetuses and those with the diagnosis of fetal spinal lesions. The position of fetal CM was performed sonographically using two methods: location of CM in relation to the vertebral body (CM level) and measurement of the conus sacrum (CS) distance. Results The results showed that intra‐observer and interobserver concordance was high for the two methods, both in the normal and abnormal groups. There was significant association between femur length and CS distance (R 2 = 0.917) and between gestational age and CS distance (R 2 = 0.892). Conclusions We propose the combined use of CM level location and CS distance measurement for the prenatal diagnosis of fetal spinal lesions for complementary needs.